Ag Policy Blog

The Biden administration is prepared to take Mexico to a dispute settlement case over biotech corn exports to Mexico if the country follows a presidential decree in 2024. Friday's visit by the Mexican foreign minister could diffuse the situation or ratchet up concerns.

The president of 23 state corn grower groups sent a letter to President Joe Biden highlighting the stakes for corn farmers if Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador moves ahead with his threat to end imports of biotech corn.

The $325 million announced today is in addition to the $2.8 billion in 70 larger projects announced earlier, bringing the total investment from both funding pools to over $3.1 billion for 141 tentatively selected projects in the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities...

The cattle contract library will require any meatpacker that processes more than 5% of the annual cattle supply to report to AMS the details on fed cattle buys at the end of each month. Producers will be able to see the terms of cattle buys, including premiums or...

The proposed SEC reporting rule would require businesses to provide detailed information on their emissions in their reports to the commission. GOP lawmakers in both chambers have introduced bills to exempt farmers from reporting emissions, or halt the rule altogether.

The export forecast for FY 2023, which runs from October 2022 to the end of September 2023, was lowered by $3.5 billion from the August trade forecast. Agricultural imports are forecast at a record $199 billion, a $2 billion in increase from the August forecast.

Following growing concerns about a potential ban on U.S. biotech corn exports to Mexico, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the Mexican president reiterated the value of yellow corn imports for his country.

Now that you've taken care of those Thanksgiving leftovers and your college football team has either won or lost its rivalry game, it's time to turn some attention to 2023. Let's start with the 2022 DTN Virtual Ag Summit on Dec. 12-13.

Comments were originally expected to be due Dec. 2, but USDA added 45 days for comment through Jan. 17, 2023. The proposed rule, dubbed "Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity," would prohibit certain "prejudices against market-vulnerable individuals" that tend to be...

The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee will ensure they are the first out of the gate with a full hearing on the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. They seek to establish that their legislation giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulatory...

More groups are laying out their ideas for changing the next farm bill. Meanwhile, USDA posted a notice in the Federal Register looking for comments on how to spend $19.5 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act on conservation programs to lower emissions and promote soil-health...

Following a hearing on Rural Development and Energy titles of the farm bill, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, dismissed a House GOP plan proposed over the summer that would make steep cuts to several farm bill programs.

Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both Republicans, called for USTR Katherine Tai to formally request dispute settlement consultations with Mexico under the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement. Mexico's government plans to cut off imports of biotech corn in 2024.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The committee has spent the past two years working on the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act to regulate cryptocurrencies. The FTX bankruptcy has heightened those...

Former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, a Blue Dog Democrat, sees a problem for agricultural policy when all of the agricultural districts are dominated by one party, even though rural Americans are casting their votes in that direction.

At least three Democratic incumbents on the House Agriculture Committee had elections called against them on Wednesday in Arizona, Iowa and New York. The GOP was inching closer to a majority, but not there yet as of Wednesday afternoon. The Senate may have to wait for the...

There was no midterm red wave Tuesday but early Wednesday the Republican party still had eyes on control of Congress. Republicans lead Democrats in races called for the House, but the Democratic win in the Pennsylvania Senate leaves control of Senate up in the air.

Voters will go to the polls Tuesday voting on a wide range of issues from state to state, as well as candidate policy. Marijuana legalization is a theme with five states voting on a ballot measure. In southern Arizona, a county will vote on imposing groundwater regulations. The...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday that access to fertilizer for 2023 crops remains a concern. The low river levels on the Mississippi River are hindering the flow of fertilizer upstream. He expects USDa will make some announcements soon that will help domestic...

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., led a letter of ten GOP House members to Vilsack on the $2.8 billion that went to the climate-smart pilot projects along with the expectation that the funds will go up to $3.5 billion with later announcements.